Deadly Fires In Reno and Sparks

By Alana Adams & James Steiner&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Wed 5:42 PM, Jan 11, 2006&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Mon 12:00 PM, Jan 16, 2006

A teenager was killed and older her sister critically injured in a Sparks house fire early yesterday. And in another fire, several people were hurt -- two critically -- in a blaze at a Reno apartment building. 14-year-old Olivia Nordoff of Sparks died about six o'clockyesterday (Wednesday) morning from injuries she suffered in thefire that engulfed her home shortly after midnight. Her 19-year-old sister, Veronica Verso, is being treated in theintensive care unit at Washoe Medical Center. Four Sparks policeofficers involved in rescue attempts also were treated for smokeinhalation. Five people were hospitalized in the Reno apartment fire,including two who were critically burned. One was a woman whodropped her six-month-old daughter out a third-floor window to aneighbor waiting below and then jumped through the window herself. The other was her 15-year-old son who was rescued by afirefighter. 27-year-old Julie McDonnell underwent surgery at Washoe MedicalCenter for internal injuries she sustained when she landed on theground. Her 15-month-old infant suffered burns on 70 percent of hisbody. He was transported to Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento fortreatment where his condition was not known. Her six-month-old daughter and a four-year-old son were treatedfor smoke inhalation, along with another man who was in theapartment and a neighbor. Fire officials originally thought that fire might have been acase of arson but the preliminary evidence now suggests it wasstarted by the four-year-old playing with a toaster in the bedroom.

The Reno fire broke out just before 10 o'clock yesterdaymorning, forcing the evacuation of all 12 units in the building atthe Sherwood Forest Apartments on Robinhood Drive west of thePeppermill hotel-casino. The mother of the two girls burned in the Sparks fire called inthe alarm about 12:15 yesterday morning. The house in the 900 blockof La Sierra northeast of the intersection of East McCarran andPrater Way was fully engulfed in flames by the time fire enginesarrived. That fire apparently started in the living room. The two girlswere trapped in bedrooms upstairs. Verso is a senior at Reed HighSchool. Fire officials say the home did not appear to have a smokedetector.

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